Missionary Visit Sunday

This coming Sunday, August 20, the Rev’d Larry Hardin will be speaking at St. Andrew’s during the Eucharistic service.  Rev’d Hardin and his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Natalie, are preparing to return to Nyharuru, Kenya in August of this year.  The Hardin’s oversee a very successful Bible college and seminary in Nyharuru as well as run Zion Farm Ministry Center which houses and supports short-term mission teams ministering in Kenya.  To learn more about the Hardins and their ministry in Africa visit Grace in Kenya.

Sunday Eucharist begins at 10:30 AM.

Foundation Day Celebration

This coming Sunday, June 29th, is Foundation Day in the Charismatic Episcopal Church.  On this day we celebrate the founding and mission of our communion.  The CEC marks her foundation from the consecration of our first Bishop and Patriarch, Archbishop Randolph Adler, June 26, 1992.  Every year, the Sunday closest to this date is set aside as Foundation Day.

Foundation Day is also the day we set aside a special offering for domestic mission endeavors.  The monies received go to support mission dioceses, churches, and clergy working to establish new parishes and ministries across the country.

This Sunday we ask all our parishoners to prayerfully consider the amount of their gift for Foundation Day.  The traditional gift is $10.00 per communicant.  However, I ask that we endeavor to give prayerfully and generously as our gifts go to advance the Kingdom and support our sister churches across the country.

See Archbishop Craig Bates Foundation Day Letter

Fan Drive News Update

As mentioned in an earlier post, FaithWorks is collecting fans to distribute to needy families.  In an email sent out to supporting churches yesterday, Director Bob Furnad reported that within the last ten day 123 fans were donated.  He further reports that all the fans were distributed within the first hour of opening! 

St. Andrew’s is continuing to collect fan donations.  If you would like to donate a fan to this worthy cause, please contact our office at 770-784-5100 or you may drop them off on Sundays after morning worship.

FaithWorks is an area benevolence ministry supported by area churches.

Ascension Day Observance

St. John’s Eucahristic Fellowship (Royston) will observe The Feast of the Ascension, Thursday, May 1.  Everyone is invited to attend.  The service will begin at 7:00 PM.  For directions, go to our St. John’s MIssion Page. 

St. John’s Eucharistic Fellowship is an extension of St. Andrew’s Church under the leadership of Father Stanley and Sabrina Samuel.  They meet every Thursday evening at 7:00 PM for Holy Eucharist and Bible Study and every first Sunday of each month at 10:00 AM for Holy Eucharist.  You may visit their website at www.stjohnscec.org

Clergy and Lay Training Course Offerings

The Rev’d Canon Robert Wills, rector of St. Luke’s (Manchester, GA) and Canon Theologian for the Mid-South Diocese, has begun offering clergy and lay training courses at the Cathedral of St. Michael’s and All Angels in Thomaston, GA.   The purpose of these training sessions is to improve and strengthen both clergy and lay ministry across the diocese.  The courses will be held on Saturdays beginning with two Saturdays in April and then one Saturday per month for the remainder of the year.

Course Offerings

• Bible Study and Interpretation (3 Sessions) - The purpose of this course is to provide practical instruction on methodology and techniques for the study and interpretation of the Bible covering basic principles of hermeneutics and methods of systematic Bible study.  It will also provide instruction for clergy on how to prepare sermons.  Please note: This course has already met for one session with two remaining (April 12 and 26).  However, if interested in attending the last two sessions please email Canon Wills at vanguardcec@netzero.com
• Christian Alternative Dispute Resolution (CADR) (1 session) - Course designed to help develop the much needed skill of dispute mediation and conflict resolution.  The focus of the course will be on how to resolve family related and church related disputes in a Biblical manner. This class will equip clergy and laity to mediate conflict resolution within the local churches using scriptural principles. CADR offers a methodology for conflict resolution that has been used for over 20 years; it has also been effective in preventing disputes, and it has been used to resolve serious conflicts within the Christian Community. In many years of working with people who have psychological and substance abuse problems, Canon Wills has found CADR to be a useful tool both within and outside of the Church. It is especially useful in marriage counseling for reconciliation.  This course will be offered on Saturday, May 17.

Additional classes will follow in June, July and August.  Courses will highlight various aspects of the historical development of the Church, with a view to why we worship as we do.

Photo: Current pariticpants in first class including The Rev’d Father Bob Roethel, the acting dean of St. Michael’s Church.

Continue to Pray for Kenya

In a report yesterday on the escalating violence in Kenya, Reuters reports that even if UN General Secretary Kofi Anan is able to negotiate some peace agreement between the two factions at the heart of Kenya’s turmoil, ethnic or tribal tension has now taken on a life of its own.  Kenya has long since been considered the most stable of the African nations.  The extent to which Kenya turmoil might lead to the further destablization of surrounding African nations is yet unknown.

Continue to pray for the nation of Kenya, for our CEC leadership and parishes in Kenya, as well as the ministries of Mt. Zion Farm, The Center for Biblical Studies, and Mt. Moriah Children’s Home in Nyaharuru.  We will keep you posted as we get further information on the well-being of our churches and these ministries or as we get further prayer requests.

Send Me

Below is a very powerful call to evangelism and mission by Christian rap artist Lecrae.  May the Lord give our generation the heart and the will to say to God, “Send me, I’ll go.” 

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Ramblings of a Madman #28

“Jesus Christ did not say, ‘Go into the world and tell the world that it is quite right.’” C.S. Lewis, Northern Irish author and scholar, 1898-1963

This is a continuation of ROAMM #27, where I kicked around relationships. I now ponder, “How do I make a disciple?”

I have been given the command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”.

I recently went on a hike and overnight campout with the boy scouts. During our 2 hour ride to Pine Mountain and again on the ride home I was afforded the opportunity to have discussions with some of the boys on “things of eternal value”.

This particular conversation started with “truth” i.e., is truth relative? Who holds truth? Is truth the same for everyone? This conversation of course leads to God being the ultimate truth, etc., which segued us into Jesus Christ and the need for a Messiah.

I listened, slack jawed, as the boys discussed among themselves, 4 of them, that they were pretty good kids, went to church, were scouts, did well in school, etc. and therefore really had not thought about the need for Jesus Christ as a propitiation (my word not theirs).

Jesus loved them and therefore why should they be concerned beyond that? I thought it was an excellent point. They are “good kids.” Jesus loves them. What do they have to worry about? How many “good turns” does it take to have eternal life? How many Sundays on the front row? How many mission trips? How many Bible verse memorizations? Gold stars for Sunday School attendance, being an active youth group member, or acolyte, visiting the hospice, cutting the grass, taking out the trash, not fighting with a sibling, A’s & B’s in school, the list would never stop. These are good kids. After all they are Boy Scouts and Boy Scouts are: TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, THRIFTY, BRAVE, CLEAN, & REVERENT.

These are not disciples they are 21st century members of western churches!

This point became almost unbearable. How do you make disciples? It is not until people learn that they are lost that they see the need for salvation. How do you convince someone who sees no need for salvation that they need a savior and if they don’t need a savior why do they need to be disciples of Jesus Christ?

We must come to an understanding of the sinfulness of man. He is inherently evil, even when he does “good deeds” it is for self-gratification, to feel good about himself. Or, it may be an attempt to make himself look better than others, or for what he can get out of them. I argue that the sinfulness in man that drives him to criminal activity is the same as drives him to do good works. There is no good within us unless it be God!

I believe it is necessary to take Christians to the same place as the military does in basic training. A person has to be totally and completely broken, there is no one or nothing left for him to rely on, and then they learn to rely and count on each other. I believe we have to show people how totally broken, sinful they are. How there is no one or nothing they can count on except God, and only then do we introduce them to Jesus Christ. Because in the west we have a good life, why do I need God? I am a good person. I have a job I can pay the bills. I have a roof over my head and, if I cannot afford it, the government will jump in and give it to me. Not to mention the fact that the TV preacher keeps telling me how much God loves me. If God really loves me he won’t send me to hell, right?

But there are people in the world, not many in the U.S., that are like the woman whom Elijah came to and told her to make a cake. She relied on the Lord because first of all there was nothing left, there was not even any more food, what did she have to loose? Then this “true man of God” told her, to be faithful, she was and she used the last of the flour.

It is imperative we teach that man is without hope outside of Jesus Christ. We have to teach the doctrine of propitiation. And we must also teach the righteousness of God. In His perfect holiness He will do the right thing. His judgment will, at the end of time, put all things in order. No matter how messed up it may seem today, God will make it right. How good or bad we have been will be decided by God and God alone. Does the world understand what that means and is that what they really want?

Some will say that is trying to “scaring people into heaven.” I call it the love of God.

I had a pastor ask me one time why we were created. My response was “for the pleasure of God”. He remarked that sounded perverted. I responded that it only sounds perverted to man, because the pleasure of God is perfect; it is the most wonderful thing there is. Just as God put my family together for each other’s pleasure, so is our relationship to be with God. It is only perverted when it is not done according to God’s design. God’s design is perfect, he is holy and righteous and without him “what a worm am I”.

God give me strength, the courage and the words to make disciples, for without you there is no hope.

I was born to fight devils and factions. It is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight paths. But if I must have some failing, let me rather speak the truth with too great severity than once to act the hypocrite and conceal the truth. ~ Martin Luther

Godly Seed - A Reflection on the Heels of “Sanctity of Life” Sunday

Article first posted January 29, 2007.  

On Sunday, January 21st, Churches across the country celebrated “Sanctity of Life” Sunday. “Sanctity of Life” Sunday, for those who may not know, is observed by churches to pray for the pre-born who have been victims of legalized abortion and to call God’s people to continue to be a prophetic voice calling our nation to repentance and to renounce the practice of abortion. It is a very important observance for God’s people in the ongoing struggle to save the unborn and to promote the “sacredness” of human life.This year, while preparing to deliver my annual “sanctity of life” message at St. Andrew’s, God began to stir my heart to address another concern intimately related to the struggle for the preservation of life. In so doing, He led me to the following passage, Malachi 2:15a.

But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks a godly offering.

What is the message God had me address? Here it is in a nutshell: God desires godly seed not just seed!Since the Roe vs. Wade decision which legalized abortion-on-demand in our country, the Church has been waging an ongoing battle to preserve human life - the life of millions of innocent children. Just so you know, over 40 million babies have been aborted since 1973. The struggle is real. And it can be said, to varying degrees, the Church has fought long and hard to preserve the seed of human life.

But…God desires more of us. He desires a “godly seed.”

You see, we are not just to fight to save the seed of human life, we must be committed to help nurture the seed we save. The question before us is this: “We are ready and willing to enter the public arena to fight for a policy to save human life, but are we ready and willing to roll-up our sleeves and provide the care and nurture needed to raise up a godly seed?”

Last October 2006, my heart was first awakened to the need to raise a godly seed when I was priviledged to attend an adoption fair in Atlanta. As I listened to the statistics given of children in state care and the need to find good foster and adoptive parents, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me about the neglected seed that was in the state system. I remember thinking to myself, “I am more than willing to write my congressman, protest in the streets, and make donations to pro-life endeavors to save an unborn child, but am I willing to commit myself to raise a child in need to be a godly man or woman?”

And here in lay the challenge not only to me but to all God’s people who are engaged in the struggle for human life. God, I believe is attempting to say to us, “it is not enough to save the seed it must be nurtured to become godly seed.” To fail to do so, is to fail to complete the mission.

Consider the following:

1. James 1:27 tells us that “pure and undefiled religion” which pleases God is to take care of the widows and orphans in their distress.

2. Psalm 68:5 tells us that God is a “father to the fatherless.” The term fatherless in Scripture is the more common term for the orphan. A good word study is to look up all the references to the word “fatherless” in Scripture. You will find time and again that God is especially concerned for the needs of the fatherless and warns emphatically that God’s people should never mistreat them or neglect them.

3. Psalm 68:6 also tells us that God delights to take the “solitary” and place them in families. He is committed to finding the fatherless a home.

4. Genesis 1:7 tells us that all life is sacred for we are made alive by the very breath of God. Malachi 2:15 confirms this by stating that we have a portion of the Spirit given to us at conception. And just as the child in in the womb is holy and sacred, so is the child who finds himself abandoned, fatherless and motherless.

5. Note that John 1:12-13 and Romans 8:15 remind us that we who are in Christ were once all orphans and that through the redemptive work of Christ, God the Father has adopted us as His sons and daughters. In fact, consider this, the largest adoptive family in history is the Church. Who better to take on this issue of the abandoned and abused than the Church?6. Finally, consider what one child saved not only from abortion but from abandonment can accomplish. Just look at Moses, who was adopted by Pharoah’s daughter and saved from death. And our Savior, Jesus, who like Moses was preserved from Herod’s slaughter of the children in Bethlehem. It was Joseph, his adoptive father, who carried him to safety and helped Mary raise Him. Through Moses, God saved a nation. Through Christ Jesus, God the Father enables all mankind to be saved.

I do not know what God intends for all of us to do with this word. For some, I pray, you will be stirred to explore adoption. For others, I pray, you will consider being a foster parent. For others, I pray, you allow God to show you how to partner with area agencies and programs to support and impart into the lives of the children in your community who, out of neglect, abandonment, or abuse, find themselves in State custody needing someone to share with them the love of God.

According to statistics from State of Georgia website, just in the State of Georgia alone there are over 15,000 children in State custody. 85% are in State custody for severe neglect, 11% for physical abuse, and 5% for sexual abuse.

St. Andrew’s and Alpha

 

Back in 1999, St. Andrew’s (then, New Covenant Community Church) launched our first Alpha Course.  Over the years, the Alpha Course has become not only a means for evangelizing the unchurched, but also a required course for anyone desiring to be a part of our parish.  The course has proven to be a wonderful foundational teaching on which we as a parish can build and strengthen people in their walk with Christ.

 When our church entered into the Charismatic Episcopal Church in 2000, Alpha proved to be a perfect fit for our new theological and spiritual understanding.  The Charismatic Episcopal Church is a fully evangelical, fully charismatic, and fully sacramental communion and so is Alpha.  Although the course is fully applicable to non-sacramental contexts, it fits nicely into a sacramental context having been birthed and developed in a fully charismatic and evangelical Anglican church, Holy Trinity in Brompton, England. 

The course continues to be wildly successful across the denominational spectrum which is a sign not only of its quality and effectiveness but the hand of the Lord himself.  One of the most fascinating developments in the spread of the Alpha course is how it has transitioned into use with the Roman Catholic Church another sign that God is blessing this course.  Click here to view the following clip Alpha and Catholics.

If you are not a Christian and would like to explore the meaning of the Christian faith in a non-threatening environment in which you ask whatever questions you may have, you need to go on an Alpha Course.  If you are a Christian who would like to be strengthened in your understanding of the Christian faith, you need to go on an Alpha Course.  And if you are a parish looking for a way to both disciple your people and evangelize your community, you need to go on an Alpha Course.

St. Andrew’s runs Alpha each year.  If you are interested in joining us on our next Alpha you may contact us by phone at 770-784-5100 or by email at pastorrandall@aol.com